Blyth, which recently hosted the Tall Ships regatta, may soon also be celebrating a new train link into Newcastle.
Photograph: Ian Forsyth/Getty Images

For more than 150 years trains have been rumbling through the small Northumberland town of Blyth. But since 1968 it’s been freight, not commuters or day-trippers, taking this speedy route to Newcastle. Local campaigners have long been pushing to get passengers back on the rails - and now, with Northumberland county council having allocated funds for the project, it looks like it’s finally full steam ahead.

What swayed the council seems to be the strong economic case for re-introducing Blyth’s passenger services. Campaigners argued that the line will kickstart regeneration in the town, opening up job opportunities in Newcastle for Blyth’s residents. The line should also boost the local economy, with the newly connected Blyth attracting more residents and businesses.

These arguments apply equally to many small towns across the country, as shown by a University of Lincoln study (pdf). Researchers found that travel time to larger urban areas is a key factor in a town’s economic success. But there is the potential for transport to deliver even greater benefits for small towns if councils start to see it as part of a wider picture.

Building around transport hubs, rather than at the edge of towns, can reduce urban sprawl and cut road congestion.

Too often, people aren’t getting the full benefit from their towns’ transport links because their homes are only accessible by car. When councils focus their housebuilding efforts on the edge of towns, it means the train station is a long drive away for many residents.

The Hampshire market town of Fareham has regular trains to London, Brighton, Cardiff, Southampton and Portsmouth, yet was named the most car-dependent town in the country. The town’s urban sprawl means the train station is only easily accessible by car, contributing to pollution and road congestion for residents.

A new paper by the Campaign to Protect Rural England argues that small towns will see huge benefits if planning for housing and transport are combined. What’s needed is a new culture in planning, with development focused on high-density housing around transport hubs rather than low-density housing on the edge of towns.

It looks like the government is cottoning on to this approach: in a recent planning policy consultation it identified 680 sites for high-density development around train stations. But while many of these sites are in cities, it’s small towns that stand to benefit most from links to urban areas.

If this approach is carried out well, we could see compact, vibrant communities where shops, amenities and public transport links to larger employment centres are accessible by foot or bike. Less car use means the potential for green spaces instead of car parks and reduces road noise, which the government estimates has a social cost of between £7bn and £10bn a year.

It is estimated that congestion will cost the UK economy £307bn between 2013 and 2030. Building around transport hubs, rather than at the edge of towns, can reduce urban sprawl and the attendant problems of car reliance on road congestion. This approach to development is also more environmentally sustainable, cutting pollution and stopping towns sprawling out over the countryside.

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The challenge is how to apply this approach to smaller towns. A Prince’s Foundation survey found that communities’ main concern about development is that there will be too many tall or large buildings, and it’s true that the term high-density development can conjure up images of tower blocks looming over market squares. But the key is good design that fits in with towns’ existing character. High-density housing needn’t mean tower blocks – it could mean mansion blocks or well-built terraced houses.

London boroughs have pioneered novel approaches to allocating new housing in line with transport: in decisions about where to build houses, areas are graded on a scale which takes into account factors such as walking time to public transport, as well as number and frequency of services at nearby stops. We need to see local authorities and emerging sub-national transport bodies working together to apply similar methods to smaller towns.

Investment in transport and well-placed, quality housing can give small towns a huge boost – but only when they are planned together. If planning and transport bodies think about the whole picture, our small towns will see the benefits.

Trinley Walker is policy and research adviser at the Campaign to Protect Rural England

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